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Nuggets of Wisdom

Friday, May 24, 2013

ACLU Calls BS On Obama's Anti-War Speech

During his speech on Thursday, President Barack Obama--the same president who has launched more drone strikes than the previous president, and whose drone strikes have killed four American citizens--declared he wanted to put an end to perpetual warfare, claiming, according to the NYT, that "the state of perpetual warfare that began nearly 12 years ago is unsustainable for a democracy and must come to an end in the not-too-distant future."

I'll wait until you've stopped laughing.

Finished? Okay. Now pick yourself back up into the chair you fell from and I'll continue.

Needless to say, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Anthony D. Romero, wasn't exactly impressed with the president's promises and called them out for the empty promises that they were:

To the extent the speech signals an end to signature strikes, recognizes the need for congressional oversight, and restricts the use of drones to threats against the American people, the developments on targeted killings are promising. Yet the president still claims broad authority to carry out targeted killings far from any battlefield, and there is still insufficient transparency. We continue to disagree fundamentally with the idea that due process requirements can be satisfied without any form of judicial oversight by regular federal courts.

Really? It's hard to trust a guy who has unlimited authority to carry out drone strikes not to carry out drone strikes? Huh. Next you'll be telling me you can't trust an alcoholic to be in charge of a liquor store.